A New York City finance worker accused of stabbing his small dog to death and throwing the pet down a garbage chute allegedly says he did so in self-defense.
The dog, belonging to 24-year-old Zheheng Feng, weighed only 16.5 pounds, The New York Daily News reports. Feng allegedly told police his pet was acting “irrational” and then scratched him at his Manhattan penthouse apartment on May 26. He’s accused of stabbing his pet in the chest with a knife, then stuffing the dog and knife into a bag and throwing it down the trash chute.
A building worker happened to see the bag, with the dog’s head sticking out, come down the chute, according to the New York Post. The Post obtained a criminal complaint that says there were only “two very small scratches” on Feng’s arms.
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment from HuffPost.
Feng was discharged Sunday from the Manhattan Detention Complex at Rikers Island. He faces a charge of aggravated cruelty to animals and has a court appearance on June 7. The maximum prison sentence for an aggravated animal cruelty conviction in New York is two years, according to the New York City Bar.
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